Ink and Honor
by TheSkyWriter
Summary: Kaz never really saw himself as the sentimental type. But this seemed only appropriate. Then again, maybe he should have thought it through a little more. And he probably should have guessed he couldn't keep it hidden for very long. "Um, Kaz, what is that?"


Kaz never really saw himself as the sentimental type. In the pair that was _KazandOliver_ , the sentiments always went to Oliver, not really Kaz. But this, this seemed only appropriate.

Then again, maybe he should have thought it through a little more. But, just like Oliver was the more sentimental of the two best friends and brothers, Kaz wasn't the type to think things through too much. After all, the pyronetic hated thinking.

But at the same time, maybe he should have reconsidered the location. And he probably should have guessed he couldn't keep it hidden for very long. If the Davenport Industries Elite Force was anything, it was observant.

Especially if one of its members was hissing in pain after a simple clap on the back in greeting. "Kaz, you okay?" Chase demanded in concern, his hand frozen in mid-air and his hazel green eyes flashing with worry.

"Yeah, fine." Kaz's voice was rough, and he shot the bionic boy a reassuring smile once the pain dulled to a small prickle. "Don't get so worked up."

"You sure you're alright?" Oliver questioned from the kitchen table where the team was supposed to be having a light lunch. Kaz had gotten up to switch out his lemonade for a red Powerade, and Chase had just entered in from the terrace.

"What am I? Five? Yes, I'm _fine_." Kaz griped, sitting back down in between Bree and Oliver. "Promise." The other members of the Force appeared to accept his answer, or were too distracted by Oliver's food to press on-you wouldn't believe it, but Oliver's cooking was amazing, it was often that the tall hydrokinetic had to chase the others out of his kitchen-, but they left him alone and dug in to the chicken alfredo pasta and salad. Twenty minutes later, everyone was helping to clear the table and passing the dishes to Chase for cleaning-it was his turn to do the dishes-, when Skylar accidentally trodded on Kaz's foot, in her heeled boots. Kaz screeched in pain, abandoning his plate in favor of his injured foot and hopping in one place. "Jeez, E.T., tryin' to make me a cripple?" Kaz whined, leaning against the table and shooting the alien superhero a scathing glare while attempting to massage the throb out of his foot. "Are you planning on using those heels as a weapon in case of emergency?"

"Oh, please, you baby. I barely touched you." Skylar rolled her eyes unforgivingly. If looks could kill, Skylar would be a pile of bubbling goop by the way Kaz's chocolate eyes scorched her.

"Lay off, Skylar. He has sensitive feet." Oliver retorted, coming to his best friend's side and placing a hand on his back.

"You promised you wouldn't tell anyone!" Kaz complained.

But Oliver wasn't listening, the skin around his blue eyes was crinkled with confusion. "Um, Kaz, what is that?"

Kaz froze, the pain in his foot now forgotten. Too late, he realized where Oliver's hand was stationed on his back. "Nothing?" Kaz lied, trying to turn the attention away. It didn't work, and Kaz cursed under his breath at the notion that he was caught. "Tecton's underpants."

Oliver frowned and wriggled his hand a bit, feeling the fabric of Kaz's dark blue Henley under his fingers, but something else was underneath it, and it wasn't skin. "Is that, paper and tape?" Oliver asked uncertainly.

Kaz sighed. "Well, cat poked his head out, might as well let the rest of him go." The black-haired teen fidgeted. "It's actually gauze and medical tape."

"Did you hurt yourself? Were you attacked? Was it Roman and Riker?" Three different questions that came from three different teenagers, with different levels of concern.

"No, no, and no." Kaz answered with another sigh. "Don't freak out." He commanded, then shook Oliver's hand off of him and turned around. He tugged around at the back of his collar, and slowly it slid down to reveal a patch of white gauze taped to Kaz, right where his neck met his shoulders. "Go ahead and pull it off, should be fine now." Kaz told Oliver, who slowly peeled the bandage away from Kaz's skin and... _oh_.

"Wow." Chase stated, his round eyes betraying his surprise.

"That's..okay, then." Bree swallowed nervously. The only ones to not speak were Skylar and Oliver.

Contrasting against the warm tone of his skin was a silver circle just slightly smaller in diameter than a CD, and inside the ring was a scarlet red M, the empty space inside the ring colored midnight black. Underneath the insignia was a date written in black ink in elegant script: _02/25/16_. The area around the tattoo was slightly red, indicating that it was done just recently. But it was still hard for the rest of the team to swallow; they never imagined that Kaz was the type for tattoos. "Will someone say something please?" Kaz was fidgeting nervously again.

"It's a lot to take in. We just never saw you as the guy who would want a tattoo." Chase confessed, scratching the back of his neck.

Kaz snorted. "Yeah, before the idea came to me I never really saw myself like that either."

"What made you want to..?" Oliver drifted off as Kaz turned back around and fixed his shirt so that the ink was hidden once again.

Kaz shuffled from foot to foot, his cheeks twinging light pink. "You guys know that I'm not a very sentimental person; that's your department, Oliver." His best friend nodded. He wouldn't deny that because he knew it was true. "It just seemed appropriate. Mighty Med meant so much to the both of us...it just seemed _wrong_ to not do _something_ to honor that, and..." Kaz shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, getting the tattoo seemed like the best way. A permanant way to memorialize what Mighty Med was to the both of us, and to.." Kaz struggled to find the right words to explain the rest of his reasoning, and Chase, Oliver- _especially_ Oliver-, and Bree realized that they were seeing a raw and vulnerable side of the fire-weilder that he normally wouldn't allow to be viewed by _anyone_. Kaz swallowed thickly and sniffed, his chocolate eyes stinging lightly as he averted them to the floor. "To celebrate those that we lost."

It was then that Chase and Bree realized just whatt Mighty Med had meant to the two superteen males. It had been so much more than a hospital where the impossible happened on a daily basis, more than a place of work. Mighty Med had been like a home, and the people inside like a family. It was a part of them just like Davenport Industries was a part of Chase and Bree. And it had been demolished, the people inside viciously murdered by revenge-driven psychopathic and sosiopathic shape-shifters. It had been brutally erased from the world, and Chase and Bree were rocked by the fact that Kaz, Oliver, and Skylar were lucky to even be standing next to them, discussing something as trivial-but as meaningful-as a new tattoo. They could have been killed just as easily, just as savagely, as the others inside Mighty Med. They could have perished, they could have been murdered, but they hadn't been. By sheer luck, by some miracle, they were out of the way, safe from harm, when this fiendish event had taken place.

Chase registered the fact that Kaz was now scraping the toe of his shoe against the floor, and a scowl was appearing on his face. "I knew it. It's stupid. I shouldn't have-" He was cut off when a blur superspeeded into his arms, tightly embracing him and unwilling to let go. "Um, Bree-?" Kaz mumbled awkwardly, his face heating up like the fire core inside him. Kaz wasn't a hugger, unless it was Oliver, and that in and of itself was rare. His arms were open and he wasn't returning the embrace, unsure if he even _should_.

"'S not stupid." Bree mumbled from where her face was shoved into his shoulder. "Not even a little bit. It's perfect." Kaz looked at Chase and Oliver, his face a mask of uncertainty, and both boys smiled at him warmly and nodded, each squeezing a shoulder. Kaz hesitantly returned Bree's embrace.

"You sure?" Kaz asked quietly. He's never really felt as insecure as he did now, and he wasn't sure what to do about it.

"100 percent, buddy." Oliver confirmed. "I'd never get a tattoo myself, you know how I am with needles, but Bree's right. This was the perfect way for you to honor Mighty Med, and everyone in her." Kaz smiled weakly at his best friend, and Chase just nodded supportively at him with a warm smile. What could he say that hadn't already been said? Kaz understood, and relaxed into Bree's hug finally.

"Thanks." He mumbled.

"'Course Kaz. Might not have known you as long as Oliver here, but you're our teammate, and more importantly, a friend. Plus I always thought tattoos were kind of cool." Chase grinned at the fire-wielder, who laughed as he seperated from Bree.

I've always liked tattoos, and I thought it would be cool if Kaz had one to pay respect to Mighty Med.


End file.
